Understanding the importance of (un)conscious behaviour
Within marketing, it is becoming increasingly important to understand consumer behaviour. Although the end result is often a conscious action (buying something), it is caused by a series of unconsciously controlled processes. Kahneman (2011) states that most of the decisions we make as humans are made automatically without us consciously thinking about it. Important questions include:
- Why do we pick that one brand off the shelf?
- Why do we see one advertisement and not the other?
- Why is our first impression so defining?
These issues are often explained by the two systems that are active in our brain, system 1 and system 2.
System 1 and 2
According to Kahneman, when you make decisions, you use two different thinking systems. System 1 is fast, automatic, emotional and subconscious. System 2 is slower and more purposeful. You think about different considerations and different concepts and weigh all options. So, system 1 and system 2 comprise two completely different thinking processes that you go through when making decisions. This is a theory also known as “dual processing”. In the past, research has often focused on system 2, while the combination of both systems is the most complete. System 1 in particular is best measured through implicit measurements of the process or direct measurements of behaviour.
To gain insight into the entire customer behaviour and to better understand the things we aren’t aware of, there are various techniques that can help. Download this whitepaper to learn more.
